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Reading fluency serves as a bridge between word recognition and comprehension (Rockets, 2023).

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These developmentally appropriate fluency classroom activities support the development of this component by avoiding cognitive overload and allowing them to focus on the meaning of the words.

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21 Reading Fluency Activities Your Students Will Love!

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These 21 hands on and engaging reading fluency activities will help your students become better readers while still having fun!

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Reading is one of the most important components of language learning and education. It forms the basis for learning how to read - only to learn from what we read. While most children gain the fundamentals of reading by the time they are in second grade, not every child develops the ability to read fluently. Reading fluency is more or less a skill that enables the reader to read quickly, accurately, and with expression.

If your child is struggling to read fluently, there are many strategies you can use at home to support this critical, lifelong skill. Don't worry! Any child who struggles with reading fluency can improve with practice, attention, and consistent feedback. Here are a few simple ways to get your kids reading pages and pages of text with absolute confidence.

1. Model fluent reading

Young children are naturally pretty fast learners. The one thing that we often overlook is their ability to learn from others. One of the best ways to improve a child's reading fluency is to model it for him. Let the child see and hear what fluent reading should sound like. Make sure you include plenty of expressions and emotion while reading and model proper phrasing and pacing. Then ask your child to read the same passage in the same style or manner as you did.

2. Stopwatch readings

Another strategy that works for improving reading speed, which is also a major part of fluency, is asking your child to read a given passage in a set time frame. Here's how it's done: Set a stopwatch for one minute, and have your child read a passage with as few errors as possible. Notice where your child stops or breaks his fluency and work on improving those areas. Perhaps there was a word he couldn't pronounce. Ask him to repeatedly pronounce the word after learning the meaning. Then once again, ask your child to read the passage with the timer set to one minute. This time the reading should be faster!

The one minute read works because it is a manageable chunk of time and your child will be able to practice several repeated reads in a row without losing focus or interest.

Use a graph to track the number of words your child read per minute, along with the number of errors and challenging words. Your child will be excited to know he/she is improving, so be sure to celebrate improvements regularly.

3. Choral read aloud sessions

"Choral reading," is when a teacher or parent reads aloud and asks the children to follow at the same pace. Choral reading is another way to show your child what fluent reading should sound like. Choosing a book at the child's independent reading level will make it easier for him/her to keep up with the accuracy and pace.

4. Marked reading

Take a passage and ask your child to read while you silently follow on a copy of that same passage. Mark places where your child made mistakes (mispronunciation, skipped words, etc.) and keep practicing these words and passages. This can be done during the stop watch reading exercise or a read aloud activity.

To track progress, mark the number of errors and challenging words each time the passage is read. Again, remember to celebrate progress with prizes and/or praise.

5. Re-read favorite books

Always encourage your child to re-read favorite books. Some parents or teachers discourage children from reading the same books again and again in an attempt to expose them to new information. However, constantly reading new material doesn't help reading fluency at all. In fact, the more accustomed to reading a particular book your child is, the more fluent he becomes at reading it. This gives them the confidence, accuracy, and speed needed to read fluently without focusing on just reading and instead more on comprehending and mimicking expressions.

Lastly, the best way to improve children's reading fluency is by encouraging them to read more often while keeping speed, accuracy, and expression in mind. The more they read, the better they get! Modeling positive reading behavior sets the tone for reading in your household.
Martin Berk is a well-trained personal tutor hailing from Los Angeles. He works as a senior editor at an online company offering the services of expert coursework writers UK . He's also an avid reader and a wannabe blogger with keen interest in teaching, tech and education, etc.

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5 ways parents can increase reading fluency | Reading Partners | Reading Partners

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Reading fluency is a practiced skill. Parents can help their kids increase reading fluency by using these easy, at-home strategies.

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Learn at Home Activities for Fluency - Down Syndrome Resource Foundation

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Fluency refers to the rate, expression, and smoothness with which a person reads. Although pacing is a part of it, we prefer to focus on the quality of reading over the speed. Fluent readers read as though they are talking. They attend to punctuation, use phrasing rather than reading word for word, use different voices [...]

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Phonics refers to the connection between sounds and print. Phonics is the instruction that teaches letters represent the sounds of spoken language, or the alphabetic principle (Rockets, 2023).

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These developmentally appropriate activities support the development of phonics learning in classrooms by helping young learners of all abilities to break words into their constituent sounds so they build their literacy skills, bit by bit (Staake, 2023).

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Phonics is one of the five essential components of the science of reading, along with phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Phonics activities help young learners break words into their constituent sounds so they build their literacy skills, bit by bit. Here are some of our favorite ways to teach these key skills.

1. Sing a phonics song

Singing songs is such a fun and effective way to learn! Kids will love to watch and sing along, and might not even realize they're learning along the way.

Learn more: 15 Phonics Songs for Kids at We Are Teachers

2. Color in the beginning sounds

Most kids start learning phonics by mastering the beginning sounds of words. Have kids color in the words that start with the matching sound on these cute and free worksheets.

Learn more: Beginning Sounds Coloring Pages at The Measured Mom

3. Use Google Slides

Google Slides has tons of fun phonics activities kids can use in the classroom or at home.

Learn more: 18 Interactive Google Slides for Teaching Phonics and Sight Words at We Are Teachers

4. Hang phonics anchor charts

When it comes to phonics, there's a lot to learn. Post anchor charts around the room to help kids remember important rules like silent E, vowel blends, and hard and soft C and G.

Learn more: 20 Perfect Anchor Charts for Teaching Phonics and Blends at We Are Teachers

5. Build words with a chart of beginning sounds

Grab this free printable chart and print out copies for your students to use with their phonics activities. There's a version for rimes too.

Learn more: Beginning Sounds Chart at This Reading Mama

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6. Learn digraphs with clip wheels

Combine fine motor skills practice with phonics work with these free beginning digraph wheels. Tip: Add small dots on the back to mark the right answers so kids can self-correct their work.

Learn more: Digraph Wheels at Playdough to Plato

7. Slap the letter sounds

Sounding out words letter by letter is a lot more fun when you slap each letter with a flyswatter! This is a great idea for active learners.

Learn more: Letter Sound Slap at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

8. Walk the word

This one will also keep active learners moving and happy! Write words in sidewalk chalk, then walk (or hop or skip) along them, sounding the word out along the way. Simple but fun!

Learn more: Gross Motor Phonics Game: Walk the Word at Coffee Cups and Crayons

9. Fill in the missing letters

This active game combines a scavenger hunt with phonics! Hide sticky notes around the room with various vowels. Then, write CVC words with the vowels missing. Have kids hunt for the missing sounds and fill them in. Fun!

Learn more: Missing Sounds Reading Activity at Busy Toddler

10. Just swap one letter

As students move from box to box, they change one letter to make the new word represented by the picture. They might need to change the first, middle, or last letter, so it's a real challenge!

Learn more: Just Swap One at This Reading Mama

11. Make magic spoons

Pick up a pack of plastic spoons at the dollar store, then use them to practice building words by combining beginning sounds with word endings.

Learn more: Activities To Teach Phonics and Math at Education to the Core

12. Toss and blend with plastic cups

Grab a stack of plastic cups and some Ping-Pong balls for this fun phonics game. Label the cups with different letter blends and set them out (tape them down if they tend to fall over). Kids toss a ball into a cup, then come up with a word that uses that letter blend to earn a point.

Learn more: Toss and Blend at Education.com

13. Flip the pages

Divide the pages of a small notebook into thirds, then write letters on each page. Flip them to form new words.

Learn more: Phoneme Substitution Activities at Tickled Pink in Primary

14. Mix and match cups to make words

If you've still got some cups left over, label them with more letters or letter blends, then use them to mix and match words. This is an especially fun way to work on CVC and sight words.

Learn more: CVC Cups at Inspired Elementary

15. Hack pool noodles into phonics tools

This has got to be one of our favorite phonics activities. Cut a pool noodle into pieces and label it with letters. Then stack and spin for learning fun!

Learn more: Pool Noodle Phonics at We Are Teachers

16. Spin and rhyme

Here's a different spin (pun intended!) on Pool Noodle Phonics. All you need is a cardboard tube, a wire pants hanger, scissors, and a marker to make this fun DIY rhyming activity.

Learn more: Spin and Rhyme at No Time for Flash Cards

17. Make some phonics cubes

Slide the free printable inserts into a set of photo cubes, then roll until you get the correct combination of letter and word ending.

Learn more: Phonics Cubes at This Reading Mama

18. Use paint stirrers to make word pull-outs

These clever phonics tools are easy to make using paint stirrer sticks and paper towel tubes. Simply slide the stick in and out to make new words!

Learn more: Word Family Pull-Out Activity at I Can Teach My Child

19. Play a flip-top phonics game

If you go through packages of wipes like most parents do, you'll appreciate this idea. Save the flip tops and use them for DIY phonics activities.

Learn more: Flip Top Phonics Games for Kids at No Time for Flash Cards

20. Use a pocket chart for phonics activities

Here's another reason teachers love pocket charts: They're great for phonics centers. Sort and match cards to practice beginning sounds, blends, short and long vowels, and so much more.

Learn more: Short A Activities and Resources at Miss Giraffe's Class

21. Compete at Blends and Digraphs Bingo

Every kid loves a good game of bingo! Snag these free printable bingo cards and use them to practice blends and digraphs.

Learn more: Blends and Digraph Bingo at The Measured Mom

22. Toss some phonics water balloons

This one almost seems too fun to count as learning! Tape up beginning sounds, then toss water balloons to complete the words.

Learn more: Water Balloon Phonics at Mess for Less

23. Race to the Top with blends and digraphs

Play this free printable game to practice consonant blends. Toss a chip onto the board and say that word out loud. Then move the counter for the correct blend up one space. First to the top wins!

Learn more: Blends and Digraphs Games at This Reading Mama

24. Try locks and keys to learn phonics

This self-correcting phonics activity is also a good way to practice fine motor skills ... and a lot of fun to boot! Label keys with beginning sounds and locks with word endings, then match them up and try the key to see if you're right.

Learn more: Unlock and Learn Game at We Are Teachers

25. Play Phonogram Connect 4

Draw a word card and find an open phonogram slot on the board. Your goal is to get four in a row!

Learn more: Phonogram Connect Four at Mrs. T's First Grade Class

26. Teach them the Soft C & G Chant

Simple little chants like this will help kids remember some of those confusing language rules. Pair it with other favorites like " I before E, except after C."

Learn more: Soft C and G at This Reading Mama

27. Mix, color, and spell

We can't get enough of games that reinforce CVC words with short vowels-it's such an important early literacy skill! Practice identifying and distinguishing between vowels by coloring in the middle sound from pictures of CVC words.

Learn more: Teaching CVC Words at Susan Jones Teaching

28. Write the Room: Digraphs

Use this fun little letter scavenger hunt to move around the room to search for pictures with digraphs. First, mark the ones you find with a dot marker and then use another sheet to write the digraphs.

Learn more: Beginning Digraphs Write the Room at ABC's of Literacy

29. Use disappearing ink for letter formation

One of the first keys to early reading success is letter identification and formation. Keep it fresh by using "disappearing ink" (aka water) so students have to trace letters multiple times to prevent them from disappearing too fast. With so few materials and such high engagement, what's not to love?

Learn more: 3 Simple Play-Based Phonics Activities at Research and Play

30. Do word sorts

Word sorts are great for comparing word patterns that make the same sound, like vowel teams. They can also help reinforce so many different phonics skills, making them the perfect activity that can be easy differentiated for learners of all stages.

Learn more: Using Word Sorts for Phonics Instruction at Mrs. Winter's Bliss

31. Roll and Read

Roll a die and read the word from the corresponding column. Play with a partner or do it solo by coloring in the words as you read them.

Learn more: Lesson 79 Roll and Read at UFLI. While you're there, check out the UFLI free lesson resources, which include decodable passages and games for almost every phonics skill!

32. Roll letter dice

A perfect DIY idea for old blocks! Use three blocks and write consonants on two of them and vowels on the other. Have some fun rolling and blending CVC words.

Learn more: DIY Phonics Games at Early Impact Learning

33. Sort syllable types

If you are teaching the different syllable types, this word sort helps students practice their knowledge of the six types and shows you what they know.

Learn more: Six-Way Syllable Sort at Florida Center for Reading Research. Also, check out the many other phonics resources available by grade level: Kindergarten and First Grade or Second and Third Grades.

Get all the latest teaching tips and ideas straight to your inbox when you sign up for our free newsletters!

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33 Fun Phonics Activities and Games for Early Readers

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Help kids learn to read with phonics activities that break words into their basic sounds, like phonemes, digraphs, diphthongs, and more.

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How to Practice Phonics With Kids at Home

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Support your child’s reading success at home with these 6 tips on how to teach phonics to kids.

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Phonics instruction is a teaching method that teaches the relationship between sounds and the letters we use to represent them. Phonics is a long-standing teaching method that is good for teaching children to decode words. Phonics instruction typically begins by teaching children that sounds are represented by specific letters. Children then learn that combinations of letters are grouped together to make more complex groups of sounds to make words.

Phonics skills are important for children to be able to read fluently. Children who master phonics learn to recognize individual sounds and how to blend them together to read words. Many children with learning disabilities in reading may have difficulty with phonics skills. However, they often respond well to phonics instruction.﻿﻿

Benefits of Phonics Instruction

Some reading research suggests that phonics instruction is an effective strategy to use with reading disorders and can be used along with word recognition strategies. Students with dyslexia are more likely to make gains in reading skills when they receive solid instruction in phonics.﻿﻿

As with many types of academic intervention, phonics is most effective when used as early as possible in a child's education. Direct instruction with phonics using multisensory strategies has also shown promise in remediating learning disabilities in reading.﻿﻿ This type of instruction is typically most effective when delivered individually or within small group instruction in a systematic and intensive program.

Guidelines for Instruction

Phonics instruction teaches that there are 44 sounds made by the 26 letters of the English language. The goal of phonics instruction is to teach those sound and symbol relationships to enable children to read and write words. It is recommended that instruction:

Be systematic, focusing on a few regular sounds and spelling patterns and progressing through more complex irregular sounds and spellings.﻿﻿

Should include a lot of drill and practice (but this can and should be made enjoyable rather than grueling).

Should include immediate feedback from teachers when students need correction to keep them from learning errors.

Should include a frequent assessment to ensure children are progressing.

Should include words at the student's developmental level.

Should use multisensory methods and materials.﻿﻿

Should use words students will use in everyday interactions and classroom work and then progress to more unfamiliar or complex material as the child is ready for it.

Should include a frequent review of previously learned material so children will retain skills.

Activities to Develop Phonics Skills

There are many activities you can do at home to help children develop phonics skills:

Play a game with your child where you take turns coming up with words that begin with the same sound. It is helpful to start with consonants. (sat, sing, silly) Spend time on each letter separately.

Create flashcards with words that begin with the same sounds.

Make your own multisensory materials and have your child write the words you came up with that start with the same sounds.

Practice nursery rhymes to develop your child's awareness of how words can sound the same. Rhyming books are also helpful to teach and reinforce this skill. Read to your child while pointing to the rhyming words. Have your child write the rhyming words using multisensory materials.

After your child is comfortable with beginning consonants, practice words with long vowels. Again, spend some time with vowels individually. Have a "long A week" where you and your child watch for long A words in books and in conversation.

Work on long and short vowel flashcards.

Work on consonant-vowel-consonant flashcards.

As always, keep your practice at home fun and enjoyable. Remember that reading is difficult for a child with learning disabilities, and the more you can do to make it fun, the better. If you find that your child is having difficulty with some of your activities, perhaps they are not ready, and you may want to go back to something they have learned well to increase their confidence.

Working With the Teacher

Share any concerns you have with your child's teacher. Also, be sure to ask their teacher if they have specific suggestions on how you should work with your child. Your child will learn more effectively if what you do at home is consistent with the activities they are doing in school.

By Ann Logsdon
Ann Logsdon is a school psychologist specializing in helping parents and teachers support students with a range of educational and developmental disabilities.

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Strategies for Building Your Child's Phonics Skills at Home

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Phonics instruction is a teaching method that teaches the relationship between sounds and the letters we use to represent them. Phonics is a long-standing teaching method that is good for teaching children to decode words. Phonics instruction typically begins by teaching children that sounds are represented by specific letters.

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The ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words (Rockets, 2023).

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These developmentally appropriate classroom activities support the development of these components by teaching students to identify and manipulate the sounds in words. Phonemic awareness is especially important for students identified as being at risk for reading difficulty (Rockets, 2023).

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Blending and segmenting games and activities can help students to develop phonemic awareness — the ability to hear the individual sounds in spoken words. Begin with segmenting and blending syllables, and then move to working with individual sounds (phonemes). Learning to blend and segment sounds is key to learning to read.

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Encourage your child to listen for words that rhyme when you say them aloud, such as fun, sun; hat, cat; and fish, wish. See if your child can produce new words that rhyme with the words you say-fan, pan, ran, can, tan.

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Phonemic Awareness Activities for Parents | Heggerty

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Research shows that phonemic awareness is the strongest predictor of success in learning to read. Heggerty offers literacy activities for families.

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The ability that children have to be aware of what they do understand, identify what they do not understand, and use appropriate strategies to resolve problems in comprehension.

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Reading Comprehension classroom activities. 

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Reading Comprehension classroom activities. 

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These developmentally appropriate classroom activities support the development of reading comprehension by assisting students in becoming purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension.

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Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension

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Comprehension strategies are conscious plans — sets of steps that good readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension. These seven strategies have research-based evidence for…

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Reading Comprehension at Home Resource #1

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Reading Comprehension at Home Resource #1

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How To Build a Child’s Reading Comprehension

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Reading comprehension is important, but sometimes developing this skill can be challenging. See our guide for how to build a child’s reading comprehension.

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Reading Comprehension at Home Resource #2

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Reading Comprehension at Home Resource #2

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1. Have them read aloud. This encourages them to go slower, which gives them more time to process what they read and in turn improves reading comprehension. Plus, they're not only seeing the words - they're hearing them, too! You can also take turns reading aloud.

2. Provide books at the right level. Make sure your school-aged reader gets lots of practice reading books that aren't too hard. They should recognize at least 90 percent of the words without any help. Stopping any more often than that to figure out a word makes it tough for kids to focus on the overall meaning of the story.

If your child needs help transitioning from picture books to chapter books, try Scholastic's Branches books, which are designed to bridge that gap for growing readers.

3. Reread to build fluency. To gain meaning from text and encourage reading comprehension, your child needs to read quickly and smoothly - a skill known as fluency. By the beginning of 3rd grade, for example, your child should be able to read 90 words a minute.

Rereading familiar, simple books gives your child practice at decoding words quickly, so they'll become more fluent in their reading comprehension. (For simple books your child will love to reread, check out these expert-approved beginner books.)

4. Talk to the teacher. If your child is struggling with reading comprehension, they may need more help with building their vocabulary or practicing phonics skills. (This Pokémon Phonics Boxed Set and this Pete the Cat Phonics Box Set are fun ways to help your child build necessary phonics skills.) A teacher can weigh in on the best next steps to take.

5. Supplement their class reading. If your child's class is studying a particular theme, look for easy-to-read books or magazines on the topic. Some prior knowledge will help them make their way through tougher classroom texts and promote reading comprehension.

6. Talk about what they're reading. This "verbal processing" helps them remember and think through the themes of the book. Ask questions before, during, and after a session to encourage reading comprehension. ( Read about all the questions you should ask during story time here!) For example:

Before: "What are you interested in about this book? What doesn't interest you?"

During: "What's going on in the book? Is it turning out the way you thought it would? What do you think will happen next?"

After: "Can you summarize the book? What did you like about it? What other books does it remind you of?"

Shop resources to improve your child's reading comprehension below! You can find all books and activities at The Scholastic Store.

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6 Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension

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Try these tips to help your child develop stronger reading comprehension skills.

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The words children must know to communicate effectively.

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These developmentally appropriate classroom activities support development of vocabulary by teaching children to use the words they hear orally to make sense of the words they see in print.

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Possible sentences is a pre-reading vocabulary strategy that activates students' prior knowledge about content area vocabulary and concepts. Before reading, students are provided a short list of vocabulary words from their reading. Students create, based on their prediction of what the reading will be about, a meaningful sentence for each vocabulary word or concept. After reading, students check to see if their "possible sentences" were accurate or need revising.

Moore, D.W., & Moore, S.A (1986). "Possible sentences." In Reading in the content areas: Improving classroom instruction. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

Stahl, S.A. & Kapinus, B.A. (1991). Possible sentences: Predicting word meaning to teach content area vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 45, 36-45.

Texas Education Agency (2002). Teaching Word Meanings as Concepts.

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Possible Sentences | Classroom Strategy | Reading Rockets

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Possible sentences is a pre-reading vocabulary strategy that activates students' prior knowledge about content area vocabulary and concepts. Before reading, students are provided a short list of vocabulary words from their reading. Students create, based on their prediction of what the reading will be about, a meaningful sentence for each vocabulary word or concept.

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Fluent readers need a big vocabulary. The more words a child knows, the better reader and writer they are. (Anderson and Freebody, 1981; Graves, 1986; Stahl, 1998) (DOE, NAEP, 2011) It's up to us as parents to help our children learn and develop a large vocabulary.

The best way to learn new words is to use them, play with them, listen to them, and apply them. While it is possible to learn new words out of context, like with flashcards, Vocabulary.com, or word-of-the-day calendars, to actually have a word stick in a child's memory, you need to use it. Repetition and application are essential.

How to Help Your Kids Learn New Vocabulary

What can you do to help expose your children to new words-and then use those words? Here are some activities to try.
1. Expose your child to vocabulary words - talking, singing, listening! 2. Have conversations.
Talk to your children using a rich vocabulary. Explain words. Listen and respond to children's dialogue with new words and related information. (This is often called "Motherese" - it's when kids say something in kid talk such as "me want ma" and the parent responds with, "yes, you want more milk, don't you? You are still thirsty.")

According to a study by Meredith Rowe in 2012:

Children under the age of two benefit from exposure to lots of words.

Two- and three- year olds benefit from hearing a variety of sophisticated words.

Preschoolers benefit from conversations about past and future events as well as explanations.

3. Provide experiences.
Parents make new experiences (and familiar ones) rich with learning when pointing out new things and talking with kids. Introducing new words helps kids acquire vocabulary.
4. Read aloud stories.
Reading to children is one of the most beneficial activities you can do for their literacy skills. Find read aloud book lists for grades 1 to 8.
5. Invent your own stories. 6. Read.
The more your child reads, the more words they learn. Find book lists by age.
7. Read a variety of genres.
We learn a depth of vocabulary by reading fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, nonfiction, poetry, and more.
8. Write.
Practice the words you've learned by using them in writing.
9. Sing.
I've learned so many Spanish words by singing along to popular songs. Kids will also learn words in their own language by singing.
10. Pretend Play.
You can support vocabulary acquisition by introducing play specific words to children. If you're playing doctor, teach the word stethoscope, for example.
11. Word Play.
Children 2 - 5 Years Old:
I Spy with word clues ("I spy something that starts with t-"), I Spy things that start with B (great for the car), or rhyming words ("I spy something that rhymes with dock.")

Children 6+:
Mad Libs, Haikubes, Going Camping game ("I'm going camping and I'm going to bring an alligator . . . "), telling jokes, WordARound, Scrabble, Bubble Talk, Sight Word Games, Boggle, Bananagrams, Yamodo, Blurt.
12. Word Collections. 13. Make Inferences.
When you're reading and find an unknown word, help kids figure out what it means by using the context clues. I usually ask kids to substitute another word to see if it makes sense in the context of the sentence.
14. Share Cool Words.
Pick a word from your reading that you think other people in your family don't know. Share what it is, the meaning, and use it in a sentence. Act it out if you can.
15. Do Word Puzzles.
Do crossword puzzles, Jumble, cryptograms, word searches, and play Word Games.
16. Play Vocabulary Games.
Print out this indoor word scavenger hunt and look for favorite and new words

You Might Also Like:
Lemony Snicket's 13 Words
How to Improve Your Vocabulary
Word Play with Kids - Inventing Words
Easy Found Poetry with Magazines
Follow Melissa Taylor's board Writing Activities for Kids on Pinterest.

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17 Ways for Kids to Learn New Vocabulary

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Fluent readers need a big vocabulary. The more words a child knows, the better reader and writer they are. (Anderson and Freebody, 1981; Graves, 1986; Stahl, 1998) (DOE, NAEP, 2011) It's up to us as parents to help our children learn and develop a large vocabulary.

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Want to give your children a major learning advantage? (Of course! Who doesn't?!)

Here's how...

Help them build their vocabulary! Kids with a large vocabulary understand more of what they read and hear. So big vocabulary=big learning! Exploring new words on a regular basis is one of the best ways parents can support learning at home.

Try these classroom-tested vocabulary building tips with your kids at home:

1. Notice new words when you're reading or listening. Talk about the importance of a large vocabulary and make an effort to learn new words.

2. Talk about what to do when we discover unknown words. (Hint: Don't just skip them.) Try using context clues or use another resource to find the meaning. Teach kids to locate words in the dictionary or use an online resource...

3. But focus on kid-friendly definitions and examples of new words rather than complicated dictionary-style definitions. (Note to parents and teachers: Please don't make kids look up long lists of words in the dictionary and copy long definitions. I remember doing that monotonous task as a kid, and it did NOT inspire a love of vocabulary.)

4. Keep track of the words you know. List them. Categorize them. Play games with them. Revisit them. Kids often need multiple exposures to words in order to really learn them.

5. Focus on learning the right kinds of words. Pick words that are more complex or descriptive versions of common words that kids already know. (For example, descriptive adjectives and verbs.) Also, focus on technical words kids need in order to understand a concept or a task that they are currently learning about.

6. Learn common roots, prefixes and suffixes to SUPER SIZE vocabulary knowledge. When you learn one word part, you'll begin to easily recognize many more words with the same word parts.

7. Interact with the words in some way. Draw their meaning. Act them out. Make them come alive so you'll remember them.

8. Try to find concrete examples of new words whenever possible to make meaning more clear.

9. Relate words to real life experiences. Make them meaningful and make connections with new vocabulary.

10. Read. A lot! Read all sorts of books, signs on the wall, directions, recipes... A wide variety of reading material will expose kids to a wide variety of new words.

Also, if your kids love word searches as much as mine do, check out this set of 12 word searches focusing on common root words. On each page, kids read the definitions of five related words and determine what they all have in common. (Each word shares the same root word, or relates to the meaning of the root word in some way.) Then they unscramble the words, and find them in the word search puzzle.
And here are a few more great vocabulary learning resources:
This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a small commission on items purchased through the links at no additional charge to you. Thanks!

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Vocabulary Building: Ten Tips for Parents - Home Literacy Blueprint

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Ten tips for parents to help kids with building vocabulary at home.

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5 Resources to support the components of reading. 

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5 Resources to support the components of reading. 

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https://storyweaver.org.in/en/
https://digitallibrary.io/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEPD4txSUpE
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/effective-reading-interventions-kids-learning-disabilities
https://www.amazon.com/Plan-Differentiated-Reading-Instruction-Second/dp/1462531512/ref=zg_bs_g_11994_sccl_10/144-5993590-9971404?psc=1

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Digital Library of Illustrated Storybooks | Read Stories in 300+ languages

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StoryWeaver is an award-winning open platform offering thousands of free children's storybooks in hundreds of languages.